The dark room was silent as three witches stood poised in a circle, overlooking a deep bubbling cauldron overflowing with a foggy substance. Steamy smoke wafted up from the foggy liquid and danced in the air in cloudy vapor. It floated through the air, delicately emulating the magical connection that had formed below. The only thing that was visible in the blackness outside the sacred circle that the craft had created was dozens of pairs of potent eyes, transfixed on the ceremony that was unfolding before their own gaze.

Paige looked at their creation with satisfaction. The dry ice that she had orbed all the way to Chicago to get was working as anticipated. She glanced around, admiring Piper's handiwork. The costumes they were wearing were quite impressive. Each of them was garbed in a raven black garment that shrouded them beyond sight, and topped off with a conical hat that made every stereotype about witches frighteningly real. Even though her sister didn't want to admit her talents she was quite a costumer! Leo's stage set was equally impressive. If Paige hadn't known better she might have thought that he was overcompensating for not having powers again. The forest that surrounded them was so malevolently lifelike that each hand painted tree gave even her chills!

"Hee hee hee", Piper cackled. She grasped the long stick she was holding firmly with her menacing demeanor, swirling the contents of the gigantic potion with practiced hands. Even though she looked sort of creepy in character she was way too nice! Paige could barely suppress the huge smile she wanted to crack at the attempt at evil laughter.

"The witches stirred the discolored liquid in the cauldron, chanting their spell in dark ominous tones!" Leo narrated mysteriously. He sounded like he was reading out of the book of shadows. His voice was steady and calm, delivering potent details with a firm but gentle rhythm. Paige was glad he was the narrator. His words always seemed to be what everyone needed to hear, even if he was simply reading out of a book.

Piper winked at her husband. She pulled out a smile vial from underneath her costume with her free hand. Deftly, she poured the contents into the cauldron while everyone was distracted. The liquid inside began to foment even more causing some to froth over the edges and spill on the floor.

"Double, double!

Toil and trouble!

Fire burn!

And cauldron bubble!"

The sisters chanted loudly. It was real by their standards, but Piper had insisted they overact just in case someone in the audience got any ideas about witches. Paige was just grateful her sister had let her use real magic. Ever since she had quit her temp job, she had been yearning for a way to help out in a non demonic way. She felt smug. A demon free week was definitely worth savoring!

There was a small blast of smoke as the ingredients in the cauldron interacted with the sisters words. A few puffs erupted from the gigantic vat, imploding with sudden claps. The audience gasped in amazement at the magic effect took hold. Even Leo looked surprised.

"Thank goodness this is the abridged version of Shakespeare", Phoebe noted softly. Paige shot her a teasing look. Despite their horrible acting, their sisterhood was the one thing that was carrying their performance. Being an only child, Paige had never gotten the chance to do many social events with family. The inherent teasing that comes with siblings had been something that Paige had missed out on growing up, and now she was over flowingly eager to make her sisters get the brunt of her attempt at catching up!. She nudged her sister playfully.

"In the forest, the three crones concocted their brew to weave their magic, waiting for Macbeth's untimely return", Leo continued. He held the the junior book of Shakespeare he was reading up to hide the slight smile that was unfolding on his lips.

"Hey!" Paige protested. "We aren't that old!" she pouted. She gave Leo a harrowing look, but he ignored her out of character moment. To make matter worse, Paige could hear the few adults in the audience laughing heartily at her side comment her age. Her sister nudged her back. "Shhh…' Phoebe urged. "You'll ruin the story!"

Piper raised her arms in the air as if she was calling on some higher power to do her bidding. She leaned her head back, letting her hair spill dramatically behind her. Paige noticed the audience seemed to be buying their act despite her momentary break! The kids in the front row looked genuinely terrified. A few even gasped at their convincing display. Paige couldn't see Wyatt from where she was standing, but she had a feeling he was enjoying their special effects. He was like her. Anything magical would appeal to his whitelighter side. She adored her nephew. The idea that she would one day talk to him about what it meant to be both a whitelighter and a witch was an exciting prospect. She wanted to savor every step along the way. Knowing that he would be impressed by her was exciting.

"Just as they finished their spell, Macbeth shimmered…I mean entered the grove." Leo read, correcting himself quickly. The line brought Paige sharply back to her senses. Her whitelighter defense system immediately kicked in. Shimmered? What was Leo thinking?! He almost fumbled at his hidden mistake.

"He approached the witches confidently and sure of his fate!" Leo added with a nervous smile. Then, he stepped to the side to make a grand welcoming motion with his arm. Paige sighed inwardly at his efficient cover up.

This is it! Paige thought with anticipation. It was Henry's big moment. She looked over to the left of the stage excitedly. She had taken three days to convince him to do it, but after enough begging she had finally convinced Henry to tag along. She couldn't wait to see how ridiculous he looked in his costume! She wanted to giggle at the thought. She didn't get to see a parole officer in stockings every day, much less her husband!

The piano player started playing a haunting melody to introduce the character of Macbeth to the kids in the audience. He stroked the keys dramatically to up the effect of suspense. The entire audience stared eagerly in the same direction as Paige, waiting for the moment that the protagonist would walk on stage and sweep them up with a fabulous fanfare. The sound of the elaborate music filled the auditorium with a long drawn out echo.

However, that moment never came. Paige strained her eyes to see if she could see Henry in the wings, but all she could make out were the few extras that were waiting to come on. Most notably, her old boss from South Bay Social Services was standing right at the sightline, ready to make his own entrance. "Where are you, Henry?" Paige whispered to herself. "You'll miss your queue!"

"Macbeth approaches!" Phoebe boomed in a large voice. She froze in a tableau like stance to stress the dramatic entrance. However, after a few moments of silence, she dropped her stylistic pose.

The piano player continued to play his serenade. However, around the second stanza, he stopped, finally noticing something was wrong. The song ended with a disharmonic thud of a low key as he stared at the stage agape. . The sisters looked around the room nervously

Members of the audience began to murmur as the scene died. There was some snickering from the older children. Paige looked around nervously. "Excuse me!" she stated flatly. She picked up her robe off of the floor and moved as quickly as she could for stage right to look for Henry. The snickers began to turn into laughter as she headed out of the auditorium

Outside, Paige scanned the premises as if she were a scrying crystal. She spotted him off in the corner talking on the phone. His back was to her. He was fully dressed in his costume, shifting uneasily in the tight polyester that Piper had so delicately stitched for him. However, he seemed more overly preoccupied with his conversation. Paige marched over in his direction furiously. She didn't know exactly what she was going to say to him, but her terse temper began to heat up as she approached her husband. She stopped when she was right behind him and coughed loudly, clearing her throat as he turned to face her.

Paige glared at Henry. Her normally balanced features were eschewed with irritation. She stood looking at her husband without saying a word with folded arms across her chest. From the expression on his face, she gathered that he didn't like her bleeding the silence for his guilt. However, she was hardly concerned with his feelings at the moment. In all her years as a witch, she had never dropped the ball on an event that involved her nephew. She was disappointed in Henry. She blinked disparagingly at him in order to hide the hurt that she was aware of that was washing across her own face. The marital spat was not one of her favorite nuptial pastimes!

"Paige, it was one of my parolees", Henry protested, sensing her impending lecture. "I couldn't ignore his call we've been working together for months

"I thought we agreed that we both wouldn't take any calls!" Paige snapped. "Whether they were normal or magical!"

"Paige, I'm sorry…but it was an emergency. It would look bad for the agency if I just ignored his call." he pointed out.

Paige brought her hand to her temple, rubbing it to relieve the phantom pain caused by past charges ringing for help. "Uck….You're reminding me of Kyle! He was always taking calls!"

"Who's Kyle?" Henry asked obliviously.

"He was a guy I used to date, who got killed, but became a whitelighter, and he was always taking calls about avatars!" Paige explained distractedly.

She peered at her husband. It was obvious to her that she wasn't making any sense. He face looked so blank. "Look, just please go and apologize to Piper? She's a little upset!"

"Sure…and I'll make it up to you….to everyone." Henry promised.

"Not likely…" Paige whispered under her breath. However, she concealed her pessimistic remark with one of her rosy smiles. She watched Henry head back into the auditorium. Even though she was angry, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. He was the only "normal" person in the family. As he opened the auditorium and disappeared from view, she frowned. If anything, this was going to be a chore to balance her responsibilities as usual!

Back inside the auditorium, the once entranced audience had already dispersed. Phoebe and Coop ushered the final family from the auditorium sadly. Phoebe was particularly disappointed. The fact that the one chance they had to do some volunteer work had been spoiled by non-demonic means was very discouraging. She turned to Coop helplessly.

"I still don't see why you didn't do Romeo and Juliet", Coop professed. "The classic love story! Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, and girl falls boy! Simple, easy and romantic!"

"You forgot the part where they both die", Phoebe replied with amusement. "I think that might be too graphic for the children!" she added as a light suggestion.

"So instead you chose a play where the main character gets his head chopped off. I see your point." Coop joked.

Phoebe smiled broadly at his sense of humor. The distress she felt melted away immediately. She still couldn't believe how much she loved Coop. Every day seemed like a new adventure to her with him around. His easy going wise cracks warmed her up considerably. He was so different than all of the men that she had dated. For once, she felt as if she had hit the jackpot. There were no nagging doubts of persistent worries. Her deep passion for him was stronger than she had ever felt in her life.

"We thought…you know with the whole witch thing it would be easier". Phoebe said cheerfully. She slipped her hand into Coop's and looked at him lovingly.

"Maybe not..." Coop replied, indicating Piper with worry.

The sensual moment that Phoebe was experience suddenly gutted with a resurgence of worry.

"It's the story of my life!' Piper complained. "Everything was going great, and then this happens! Can't I have a normal life?"

"I'm sure Henry didn't mean to miss his entrance', Leo stated calmly. "He probably had to deal with a charge.

"He's not a whitelighter Leo!' Piper replied.

Phoebe watched Leo's face as Piper's words hit home. He tried to conceal his hurt, but Phoebe could clearly see a longing for his powers. She focused deeply, trying to sense any ulterior feelings that he might be hiding. There was nothing. She pressed her hand deeper into Coop's for support. He squeezed her hand back affectionately. Although Phoebe still lacked her empathic powers she knew Coop could sense the same intuitive, disharmonic chord that she did.

Henry entered the auditorium reluctantly. Phoebe watched him stride toward Piper. She had to admire Paige's choice in a husband. Even though he had let everyone down he wasn't afraid to admit his mistakes, she noted mentally. Still, Phoebe doubted he could stand up to Piper's fiery temper. This was new territory. Phoebe stood ready to jump in and mediate the situation if the situation turned ugly.

"I'm sorry…one of my parolees called', Henry admitted.

Piper looked at him hard for a moment, but then sighed. "Its fine…..At least it wasn't a demon.', she added dryly.

That was anticlimactic! Phoebe thought. She was honestly surprised. She didn't know Henry too well, but Piper had real trouble opening up to new people. Ever since Prue had died, Phoebe had never seen the sweet spark rekindle in her other sister quite as brightly as before.

Henry nodded meekly at Piper's response. Phoebe eyed them both carefully. They were getting along remarkably well for mortal/witch in-laws!

To be continued…